On October 17, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, ordered a new primary for the Independence Party in Orange County, for the office of Surrogate’s Court Judge. The original primary results, in September, had been 222 votes for Robert Onofry, and 213 votes for Stephen Hunter. But Hunter had sued to overturn the results. In eight precincts, no voter registered with the Independence Party had signed in to vote, yet the mechanical voting machines set up for the Independence Party primary showed 9 votes in that Independence Party primary. Also, in seven other precincts, there were 17 more votes cast than there were Independence Party voters who had signed in.
The lower court, on October 3, had upheld the results anyway. Judge Joseph Owen said it didn’t matter that some voters apparently didn’t sign in, and that the votes should be assumed to be valid anyway. The Appellate Division reversed late on the afternoon of October 17, after hearing oral argument.
The two candidates seeking the Independence Party nomination for Surrogate’s Court Judge are also major party nominees for that same office. Onofry is the Republican and Conservative nominee, and Hunter is the Democratic and Working Families nominee. Presumably the new primary will be held later in October, in time for the results to be known so that the November ballots can be correctly printed. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.
